


Blood Between

by Neon_Morphile



Category: Bandom, Trench - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Banditos - Freeform, Blood and Violence, Blurryface Era, DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, Journey, M/M, Minor Character Death, Physical Abuse, Psychological Trauma, Trench Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-12-25 10:35:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18259538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neon_Morphile/pseuds/Neon_Morphile
Summary: Physically escaping Dema was only the easiest part; even harsher travail awaits Tyler and the Banditos as they embark on a journey across Trench to find a haven for themselves. With the bishops on their heels and fissures forming within the group, will they be able to reach the vague destination that promises permanent freedom from the somber territory of Dema?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The prelude to the long Demaverse saga.

  _He’s coming for you._

The Voice echoes.

_He’ll take you back._

It hisses and purrs.

 _And then he’ll make you_ pay _._

Wrapping its invisible clammy fingers around his neck, the Voice begins to add pressure to its cold grip. Tyler feels pain. Asphyxiating pain. Pain slithers its way around his neck, hands, and eyes, leaving him no time to let out one single sound. All he can do is writhe and shed tears in his spot, cradling his hands to his chest and biting his lower lip to fight back the urge to scream until the moment passes. No one must know. No one, not even Josh, should know about this.

He allows himself to huff out a silent, shaky breath when the searing touch on his flesh weakens for a moment. He needs water. Water will at least alleviate the burn albeit temporarily. There is a clear puddle a few feet away—one formed from the recent downpour that had seeped through the cracks and crevices of the cave ceiling. Tyler makes his move. Trying his best to disassociate himself from the physical and mental agony tormenting him, he crawls as stealthily as possible toward the puddle of rainwater just outside his reach.

It is night. Everyone is asleep. Except for the two Banditos keeping a night watch, though they are seated near the mouth of the cave. Tyler’s spot is in the far back corner. He purposely chose this space even though Josh insisted he stay close to him where the fire is because he somehow knew this would be coming. This _episode_.

The five feet journey feels like a five mile march. Tyler wipes away the tears that are dangling on his chin as he pulls himself over the surface of the rather large water puddle and reach out to touch it when…

 _He_ looks back at him.

Tyler gasps and flinches, but is unable to get up. He can’t cause a ruckus in the middle of the night, which then would lead to their party finding about _him_.

“ _Do you really think you can escape?_ ” He sneers.

Tyler stays silent.

“ _Do you really think you’ll ever reach a safe haven?_ ” The red eyes seem as if they are scrutinizing his soul and even what lies beyond.

“…Stop,” Tyler closes his eyes and feebly whispers.

White-hot pain instantly strikes his nerves. He snaps his eyes open, drawing in a sharp intake of breath.

“ _Face me, coward_ ,” he orders, baring his teeth. Tyler is obliged to comply. As long as it takes the pain away for a few seconds, he has no choice but to listen to the reflection in the water.

“You’re just a figment of my hallucination,” Tyler protests.

“ _You know that isn’t true_ ,” he snickers. “ _I’m a real being. As real as the agony I’m inflicting on you._ ” His fingertips touch the other side of the water surface, and then he clenches that black fist. Tyler nearly bites off his own tongue from the sudden wave of fresh pain around his neck. It’s choking him.

“St-stop!” The plea barely escapes from his lips. The unseen hand slackens, and Tyler is able to breathe again.

“ _See?_ ” He intones. “ _No matter how far you are from Home, I’m always there. I’m always present. I’m always stronger than you._ ” He leans forward and clicks his tongue against Tyler’s panting face. “ _Weak._ ”

“…Shut up.” Tyler shakes his head. “I’m going to get rid of you.”

“ _That’s adorable._ ” He chuckles. “ _We are inseparable._ ”

“No. They’ve planted you in me. I can root you out.”

“ _Impossible_ ,” he hums.

Tyler is exasperated. He knows all too well that when compared to _him_ , he is but a frangible, helpless individual barely capable of keeping up with the Banditos on their journey as well as fighting with his own head. The face in the reflection, the permanent smirk on his revolting countenance, the manipulative hands drenched in miasmal black and the radiant crimson pupils, serve as the signature of the heinous counterpart of himself that he cannot possibly run from. Acknowledging the fact that this battle’s conclusion is the facile victory on _his_ part pushes Tyler’s sanity to the very edge.

“I will win.” So he convinces himself, gritting his teeth.

The face merely smiles. That infuriates Tyler even more.

“I will win!” He repeats a little louder than before.

Engulfed by a mixture of rage and a sense of futility, Tyler sticks his trembling hand in the water and violently effaces the projection off the rippling surface. Water splashes and laps on his face and clothes, but he gives it no attention. Tyler only focuses on driving _him_ away.

“Tyler?”

A puzzled voice softly resounds from behind him. Tyler abruptly stops his action and turns around. It’s Josh, holding a torch in his hand and standing just a few feet away with a confused expression. Tyler’s blanch face loses even more color.

“J-josh,” he answers, forcing on an awkward smile.

“Um…what are you doing? Are you okay?” Josh stoops down and glances around. Tyler bites the inside of his cheeks because he thinks he must have appeared to be out of his mind, pounding on the puddle like that.

“I, uh…,” he falters. The Voice and its face along with the pain is gone, at least. “Nightmare.” He finally decides.

Josh stares at him for a few seconds but purses his lips and nods. His eyebrows furrow from worry. “Need anything? Or would you like to tell me what it was about?”

“No!” Tyler shouts, his volume a bit too louder than intended. Josh raises his eyebrow at his reaction. “I’m sorry. I don’t need anything. And…and…I want to keep it to myself.”

He scrambles to his feet and finds his blanket to wrap it around his torso. Then he sits on the ground and swallows a nervous feeling down his stomach. Josh watches him, eyes following every movement Tyler makes.

“If this is about Dema, I just want to say you’re safe now with—”

“I know. I know. Just…Please leave me alone. I can’t afford conversation right now,” Tyler snaps at his friend. He’s being harsh, but he can’t help himself.

Josh sighs and stands up. “Alright. If you need me, though, either come to me or send the code. You know it, right?”

“Yeah. Sahlo folina. Morse.”

“Good. Sleep tight, Ty,” Josh says as he turns around to trudge across the long cave hall again. Tyler blankly stares at the Bandito leader’s back and shivers in the blanket. The amber luminance is soon gone—he is thrown back into the cold of the dark.

 _‘Nightmare’_ , the Voice sniggers in his head.

Tyler hits the back of his head against the rocky wall, frustrated more than ever.

“Shut up,” he cries. “You don’t actually exist.”

_A tangible nightmare; that’s what I am._

He completely disregards Tyler’s words.

 _And as I said before,_ dear _Tyler,_

He prolongs the ‘dear’ to put an emphasis, which Tyler finds to be nauseating.

_He’s coming for you._

_He’ll take you back._

_And then he’ll make you_ pay _._

 

Tyler blacks out.


	2. CH1: The Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler wallows in guilt, and a stranger visits the Bandito camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being terribly late.  
> I hope you like this chapter.

 The sky was as gray as ever. Not a single shard of blue could be spotted between the thick layers of clouds though it had not rained in the past few days. It just stayed murky, damp, and gloomy like the walls of Dema only the clouds were unfolded in a much vaster manner, covering every scope of the canvas hovering above their heads with foreboding, inherent darkness. This was what Trench was like in a nutshell. It smelled of freedom but the malodor of unknown apprehension permeated the moor whether one was aware of it or not. As much as Tyler celebrated being out of his physical hell; Dema; something in his guts told him that Trench was a no better place when seen from a bigger picture. However, he dismissed the poisonous thought because he could not live with the idea that his life was trapped in a permanent prison—taking the form of an actual cell or an open space with unseen bars.

The Banditos had collected their things from the cave and were heading east once again. Judging by the position of the sunlight that scarcely poked through the dense blanket of haze, it was around 8 in the morning. It was Josh’s rule that they start moving early in the morning and settle somewhere safe (if there was any place that could be labeled as ‘safe’) when the sun hit the horizon. Tyler didn’t say anything against it because he knew very well how the Bishops were stealthier and more powerful at nights and that there were reports of strange creature sightings once the sun fell. But it was particularly exhausting for him this morning because of sleep deprivation and…the third _episode_.

Blurry.

No one knew about his existence but Tyler was afraid Josh and the others would figure out anytime soon. After all, Blurryface manifested in physical form—blackening his neck and hands while searing his eyes red. Tyler consciously massaged his neck like the aftershock of last night’s horror was still present around his skin. The pain was terrifyingly _real_ and madly acute. And it was not only the physical pain that made him shudder; the promises Blurry made and his manipulative voice were what really clutched tightly at his thumping heart. In the back of his mind, Tyler was always afraid that Nico might return and drag him back to Dema. No matter how many times Josh, Jenna, Mark and everyone else swore to him that they would never let them take him back, Tyler was always wary, always afraid.

The fear and fatigue wore him down and eventually Tyler’s knees buckled. His foot hit a stray rock on the ground and that sent him tumbling down on the ground, crushed underneath the weight of his bag. Items scattered all over the mossy ground and he groaned frustrated, sensing that his ankle was sprained. The Banditos near him jumped in surprise and somebody immediately came to his side to check on him.

“Tyler, are you okay?”

He recognized the voice. It was Jenna’s. They were childhood best friends, ever since before all of this happened.

“I’m fi—,” Tyler tried to reply as he shrugged off his luggage and attempted to rise, only to crash down again. “Shit, I’m not. My ankle.” He gritted his teeth as the newfound sharp tingle settled in. It didn’t burn half as much as the pain Blurry inflicted on him but still this meant he wouldn’t be able to walk without the help of another person until it healed. God, he was being such a deadweight when they needed to move away as quickly as possible from the godforsaken territory.

“Let me see.” Jenna frowned and kneeled by his leg. She carefully undid his shoelaces and took off his left boot, inspecting his ankle with ginger touches. Tyler watched grimly and grunted when she pressed the injured point. “It’s sprained.”

“I know,” Tyler sighed.

“I’m not an expert at this. We need Debby,” Jenna said to herself. She glanced around and snapped her fingers to gain the nearest Bandito’s attention. “Will you fetch Debby for me and tell Josh that Tyler’s hurt?”

“Sure thing,” the man replied and disappeared past the crowd of anxious Banditos. There were at least a hundred of them and Josh was at the very front, still leading the way. Tyler cursed in his mind knowing that this will not only cause the group to slow down but also sink in the abstract waves of fear and anxiety.

Tyler and Jenna only had to wait a minute before Josh and Debby came running toward them. Debby had a medical kit in her hand and Josh—Tyler had no idea why he came. His presence was not exactly necessary and it only added to the guilt that was festering in his heart. He didn’t know exactly why, but Tyler found himself stepping in a puddle of guilt every time he laid his eyes upon the leader’s face. Maybe it was the fact that he had put the entire group in danger by getting himself caught by Nico, and Josh being the heroic guy that he was, risked his own life in saving him from captivity. Some were lost in the process. And it was because of him.

“I heard you were hurt!” Josh was panting, his eyes frantic. The fact that Tyler’s belongings were all over the place probably did not do any good to the impression the situation gave the man. Tyler averted his gaze and shook his head.

“It’s really nothing. I tripped on a rock like a moron and sprained my ankle.”

“That,” Debby said, pointing at his swollen ankle, “is not ‘nothing’.”

“Not a big deal. And I’m sure I can walk with a splint. I don’t want to slow us down.” Tyler picked at the frayed end of his jacket sleeve and cautiously met Debby’s eyes. She sympathetically nodded and sat down next to Jenna.

“We might have to take a short rest. Tyler, you look really sick,” Josh commented in a soft tone as Debby did her thing and Tyler tried his best not to look at his friend all the while. He wasn’t actually sick but he felt sick. Every fiber of his body screamed that he was in mental pain as well as physical. But he couldn’t let that show. Not to Josh, anyway.

“I’m not,” he curtly countered.

Josh ignored his small protest and clapped his hands twice, clearing his throat before announcing to the Banditos at the top of his lungs: “We’re taking a twenty minute break! You can sit and rest!”

“Josh, you can’t—”

“I can,” Josh answered sternly, like a father reprimanding his son. “You need as much rest as possible. It’s been only a week since you escaped.”

 _‘That’s exactly why we need to get our shit together and fly as quickly as we can from Dema,’_ he mentally argued but bit it back because everyone around them started to unload their bags on the ground and shuffle to find a good spot for a short rest at Josh’s words. They all trusted him. They all had faith in Josh and followed his orders like a congregation of lambs by their shepherd. But Tyler? He was sure not all of them favored him especially since a few of the group were sacrificed in the process of rescuing him. Tyler lowered his head and swallowed down a lump of guilt that was obstructing his airway.

“Hey Ty,” Josh called when Debby was now bandaging his ankle.

“Yes?”

“It’s not your fault.”

What was Josh referring to? What was not his fault? Falling down? Slowing the pace? Being captured?

That he messaged Sahlo Folina from Dema when he knew all too well that he shouldn’t have?

Tyler stared at Josh’s inscrutable expression and opened his mouth to say something but closed it again because there was nothing to be said. Everything was his fault. Everything. He tore his gaze from his friend and nodded despite feeling that he shouldn’t.

When Debby was done and Tyler let out a breath of relief after taking a painkiller, he tried to stand up. Josh and Jenna instantly approached him and supported his weight from either side. Tyler limped on one foot and closed his eyes briefly from the numb throb pulsating up his left leg. He unconsciously gripped Josh’s shoulder very hard at that moment. Josh caught him just before he stumbled.

“Like I said, you need some rest. We still have about ten minutes,” he insisted, placing Tyler back down on the ground like he was a doll made of glass. Then he started picking Tyler’s stuff up and put it in the bag.

“Oh, don’t bother,” he started. “I can do that.”

“Shush and don’t move, princess,” Jenna joked, helping Josh. Tyler scratched his neck and awkwardly leaned against a boulder. Debby shrugged and sent him a grin.

 

***

 

Time flew by and they were on the move again. Tyler was walking with the help of Mark and they were nearly at the end of the train because of his condition. They didn’t have to worry about falling behind because Brad was always at the back, watching over the entire crowd but Tyler couldn’t help feeling anxious with the faint skyline of Dema stretched across the western horizon some hundred miles from here, right behind his back. He felt extremely vulnerable when there was no sea of people behind his back. Although it was just a nightmarish hallucination, sometimes Tyler could feel the hands of Nico—or Blurry—grasping his neck from behind and yanking him back. Back toward ‘Home’. He would violently shake his head then, dispelling the odd sensation from his mind and flesh.

The day went on and the sun was setting, leaving the Banditos in the peculiar murk of gray and orange. With hardly any conversations and remarkable events, the day-long march was in short, monotonous and tedious. The bags under Tyler’s eyes grew darker as the sun got lower. He was tired more than anything and the dull throb in his leg was irritating, very much so.

“You doing okay?” Josh came to ask once they made camp in between two gargantuan boulders standing proudly in the middle of the moor.

“Yeah,” Tyler lied.

“Do you…,” Josh faltered. Tyler looked up to see Josh boring holes in the ground with his unsteady gaze.

“Do I what?”

“Do you need me by your side tonight? You had a nightmare yesterday. Maybe I can be help if I’m by you…you know, if you have another nightmare,” Josh suggested. He was being careful. Too careful, like Tyler was an endangered species.

“Thanks, but I’m fine,” he lied again. He wanted to sleep next to Josh, the way they would before Dema, but he couldn’t now. He didn’t know when Blurry would surface. And he was afraid that next time he comes back, he would not only hurt Tyler but also hurt anyone who was near him. Dear to him.

“Look,” Josh put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Is there something that I’m missing? I mean…” The leader rubbed his face with one hand and then faced Tyler’s confused countenance again. “I feel like…I feel like there’s this impregnable barrier between us. I don’t know what it is, but you’re slipping away from me, Ty.”

Tyler had not expected Josh to come straight to the point in this way, so soon. Josh was right. Tyler had been avoiding Josh for the past week primarily because he could not confront his best friend without being reminded of the prices the man had to pay in order to confront him. Tyler felt like he deserved no place amidst the Banditos, like he was tainted black, and completely lost. He was not the same person that he was a year ago and Josh was the reminder of that old himself. He couldn’t find the heart to reclaim that old Tyler nor the old relationship. Every bit of him was foreign and the darkness now planted inside of him constantly ignited the spark that estranged him from the rest of his friends.

“I don’t know what to say, Josh,” Tyler calmly stated. “Dema changes you.”

“Does that mean we’ll never be the same again?” Josh looked torn apart although the years of his position as the Bandito leader contained the hurt within his solid frame. He was doing a good job staying composed.

“I don’t know…” This time, Tyler answered truthfully. He turned around and walked away to enter his own tent. Looking back was not an option, and Josh didn’t come after him. Tyler wasn’t sure whether or not to feel relieved about that.

 

***

 

It was in the wee of night when one of the night watchers shouted something incomprehensible from his tent. Having been blessed with a deep, dreamless slumber, Tyler was annoyed first when he was awakened by that sound. However, as clarity seeped in through the fog in his head, his eyes widened in the dark in fear that the shout could connote anything related to Dema and the Bishops. He was alone in the tent, frozen like a rabbit and unable to move. Noises of the Banditos awaking and shifting out their tents soon filled the atmosphere and still he wasn’t capable of lifting a finger.

“Who is it?” That was Josh.

_Who?_

Not ‘what’?

That terrified him even more. Tyler pulled his legs closer to his body, barely letting his breaths enter and exit from his lips and trembling in his spot. Muffled noises of conversations streamed in from outside. Half of him wanted to hear it, and half of him didn’t.

It didn’t take long before a figure suddenly opened up the entrance of his tent and cast Tyler into a state of utmost panic. He hurriedly backed away to the edge of the small space and protectively hid his body behind the blanket. Not a sound escaped his mouth.

“Whoa! Tyler!” A recognizable voice. “It’s me, Jenna. It’s okay.”

Tyler slowly let the blanket drop to his lap and stared at the familiar silhouette with doe eyes.

“Jenna?”

“Yes. Jenna,” she echoed and nodded. “I’m sorry to scare you. I should have been more careful. But there’s someone you might want to see.”

Tyler felt himself shudder again. “Who?” His voice, hardly audible, left his throat.

“Come on. See for yourself.” Jenna held out her hand for him to grab. Tyler hesitated for a moment but took it and exited his tent. He found comfort in the warmth her hands gave him and gulped as they passed by curious Banditos. They soon ended up at the center of the camp where the dying fire was located along with a pretty wide clearing. Josh was standing with a torch and talking to a person he couldn’t see—the view was blocked by one of the big tents.

“Josh! I brought him!” Jenna exclaimed. Tyler was still clueless as to what was happening, but by the looks of it, there was probably no reason to be afraid.

Tyler limped his way toward Josh and the stranger, unsure of why he was here and why he was needed. But as soon as the stranger turned around and came into his view, he couldn’t hold back the astonishment that exploded from within him. That dark hair and blue eyes—it couldn’t be anyone else. _How,_ though?

“…Clancy?” He whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Thank you for the comments!  
> Follow me @blurry-frickin-fren

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for making Tyler suffer. Well, maybe not xD  
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos appreciated.  
> Follow me on Tumblr @blurry-frickin-fren or @neon-morphile for updates and other top related posts.  
> xoxo


End file.
